If you’re building a web application and have high hopes that it will be used by lots of people, one of the most important things to do before you launch it is to test how it functions under extreme conditions.

The purpose of stress and load testing is simple - find out what happens to your application when it gets “hammered” by simulating lots of usage. When done right, such testing can mimic real-world usage and will yield valuable data.

You’ll find out how your application performs. You’ll often be able to locate performance bottlenecks. And you can better determine what sort of scaling strategy makes sense for your application. Fortunately, there are a number of open source testing tools that enable you to do all of this without spending an arm and a leg.

Full Story

>>Permalink

We could all use some computer help from time to time, whether it be with email, instant messaging or internet security. We’ve put together the best 14 software downloads. We’ve got a universal messenger, a way to troubleshoot email problems, and programs to keep yourself safe. These are the software tools that come to the rescue. And best of all, most of them are free.

Full Story

>>Permalink

Insecure.Org is pleased to announce the immediate, free availability of the Nmap Security Scanner version 4.50 from http://insecure.org/nmap/. Nmap was first released in 1997, so this release celebrates our 10th anniversary.

This is the first stable release since 4.20 (more than a year ago), and the first major release since 4.00 almost two years ago. Dozens of development releases led up to this. Major new features since 4.00 include the Zenmap cross-platform GUI, 2nd Generation OS Detection, the Nmap Scripting Engine, a rewritten host discovery system, performance optimization, advanced traceroute functionality, TCP and IP options support, and and nearly 1,500 new version detection signatures. More than 300 other improvements were made as well.

>>Permalink

These are free applications that I have tried and liked. This list is updated as needed.

Key:

X11: requires Apple’s X11
OSS: Open Source Software
Ltd: Limited version of a commercial app

Word processors and text editors

• NeoOffice - Native OS X version of OpenOffice.org (word processor, spreadsheet program, drawing program, presentation program and equation editor) [OSS]
• OpenOffice.org - OpenOffice.org for OS X (not a native OS X application) [OSS, X11]
• VooDooPad Lite - A notepad application that supports multiple linked pages within a document and has outlining feautres. Exports to DOC and RTFD [Ltd]

>>Permalink

Have you tried the all-new Chikka.com ? I am finding it awesome. I can send sms from Pc to mobile phones for free. And my friends can reply to me from their mobile phone.

There is a daily limit of 30 messages to Globe Telecom and 20 messages for both Smart Communications and SUN Cellular. But this limit increases if you gain credits i.e. when a mobile user sends a sms to you. Cool, is’nt it? In the same way, you can send at most 5 messages to a single number at a stretch after which you must receive a reply from that number to continue sending more messages to that particular number.

>>Permalink